BP denies report of oil leak in Gulf

By BRETT CLANTON, HOUSTON CHRONICLE |
August 19, 2011

FILE - In this June 26, 2010 file photo, oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is seen floating on the surface of the water in Bay Jimmy in Plaquemines Parish, La. A new oil sheen was spotted in the Gulf of Mexico, although energy company BP said Thursday, Aug. 18, 2011, the discovery had nothing to do with its operations and was far from the site of its disaster-hit Macondo well. A spokesman for another company involved in investigating the sheen said he believed it had already dissipated since being first spotted last week. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

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OTHER SPILLS

North Sea : Royal Dutch Shell PLC said Thursday an operation is under way to stop the leak at its Gannet Alpha platform after the worst North Sea oil spill in more than a decade. About 1,300 barrels of oil has spewed into the sea since a pipeline at Shell's Gannet Alpha platform was found to be leaking Aug. 12, the company said, though it claims that after shutting the well, only one barrel a day is leaking from the installation. The pipeline at platform, around 110 miles east of Aberdeen, Scotland, still contains up to 4,620 barrels of crude.

Yellowstone: The cleanup of a major oil spill in the Yellowstone River has proven more difficult than expected and could go on for several more months, an Exxon Mobil Pipeline Co. executive said Thursday. Areas hit hardest by the July spill should be cleaned up by the first half of October, said company vice president Geoff Craft. That includes a 20-mile stretch of the Yellowstone from the spill site near Laurel downstream to Billings. Slowing the cleanup effort has been the painstaking task of removing crude from hundreds of debris piles deposited by the same spring floodwaters that likely triggered the 12-inch pipeline's failure.

FROM WIRE REPORTS

BP issued a quick and emphatic denial Thursday after reports began circulating on the Internet about new leaks in its Macondo well, source of a massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill last year.

"None of this is true," the British oil giant said in a statement in response to reports it had deployed boats and containment boom to the well site. It noted the well was capped in July of last year, permanently sealed in September, and continues to be monitored.

BP also downplayed speculation that an oily sheen spotted elsewhere in the Gulf late last week was fed by leaks in two of its exploration wells, plugged years ago, in Green Canyon block 504 off the coast of central Louisiana.

BP deployed remotely operated vehicles over the weekend to survey the two wells. One was confirmed to be secure. At the other, samples were taken of "silty water" found near the well head, but preliminary test results showed no trace of oil or natural gas, company spokesman Daren Beaudo said.

Other companies with operations in the area, including Enterprise Products Partners and Shell Oil, also were notified by the Coast Guard about the sheen but found no leaks.

There's no clear evidence the sheen was tied to a leaking wellhead or subsea pipeline, said Cheri Ben-Iesau, commander of Coast Guard District 8 in New Orleans. It could be the result of natural oil seepage on the sea floor, she said.